Category: The Nones and the Vote

In my February/March 2019 editorial “Humanism’s Chasm,” I sounded an alarm: the conditions experienced by the current generation of nonreligious Americans have become so different from those familiar to past generations that existing national humanist, secular humanist, and atheist organizations risk becoming irrelevant. Owing mostly to the rise of the Nones—an enormous growth in the …

Progressives hope for an America where health care is a human right for everyone, women’s right to choose remains secure, gays are safe from cruelty, people of all sorts are welcome equally in a multicultural society, college is affordable without crushing debt, marijuana no longer brings jail terms, safety measures curb gun massacres, sensible steps …

In the 1950s, more than 95 percent of Americans identified as Christian. Sixty years later, much has changed. The number of self-identified Christians now hovers around 70 percent, and there has been a striking increase in the number of people who, when asked to name their religious preference, reply by saying “none.” As a member …

The political landscape after the 2018 midterm elections presents us with opportunities and challenges. The fact that the House of Representatives is under new management will hopefully put an end to some of the worst attacks on our secular democracy. In this more favorable climate, we can reasonably expect to see some movement on legislation …

Something incredible has been happening in the United States in the past twenty or so years: the number of adults who reject religion is skyrocketing. Such a radical shift toward a naturalistic worldview can substantially change U.S. politics, and therefore policy, for the better. But that doesn’t mean we can be complacent. Nonreligious Americans are …

In 2011, the Canadian National Household Survey discovered that 24 percent of its sample chose “none” when asked about religious affiliation. According to Pew Research’s analysis of the Canadian data, “Young adults, males, single adults and college graduates” were “more likely to be religious ‘nones’ than older adults, females, married people and those with less …